Chance meeting
by randomitegirl
Summary: As the Nethersphere dies, Danny pink talks with a former soldier and comes to terms with his feeling about the Doctor.


Head Notes: So I've always loved doing afterlife stories. This is the third one I've done. I also wanted to explore a meeting between two soldiers, the Brigadier and Danny Pink because they are two soldiers who know the Doctor. So here it is: my meager offering of that possible meeting.

Chance Meeting

Danny Pink pressed his hands against his eyes, wiping the tears that relentlessly flowed down his cheek. As much as he wanted to go back and be with Clara, it would have been selfish to deny Asif his life. If the boy had been someone else's victim, or even if he had been one of the bad guys he'd been sent to fight, maybe he would consider leaving the Nethersphere. But he wasn't one of the villains. He wasn't even a father protecting his home. He was a child with his whole life ahead of him. And Danny Pink had taken that life away from him. Sending him back wouldn't undo the damage he had done, but it was the least he could do.

He leaned over the railing, resting his forehead on his arms. He was alone now. Completely and utterly alone.

"Excuse me, young man," a voice said behind him. "Do you mind if I talk to you for a moment."

Curiously, Danny lifted his head and looked around. Behind him was a man in uniform. An older gentleman with a distinctive mustache above his mouth. Danny nodded in answer to the man's question.

"Who are you?" Danny asked.

"Brigadier Alister Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart," the man answered, offering to shake hands. "I suppose not "brigadier" anymore. I spent the last few years of my life in retirement. What's your name?"

"Danny Pink," he answered, accepting the older man's handshake. "Forgive me, I don't know who you are."

"We never met in life, but I wanted to talk about a mutual friend."

"Who?" Danny asked, interested.

"The Doctor."

The smile faded from Danny's face. He looked away from Lethbridge-Stewart's face.

"I don't think "friend" is the right word for it," he said darkly. "'Friend' implies a degree of respect and tolerance. And that man had no respect for me."

"Are you certain of that," Lethbridge-Stewart asked.

"From the moment I met him he has insulted me, my judgement and my experience. He never listened to a word I said and frequently implied that I was an idiot. That my judgement couldn't be trusted because I'm just a soldiering idiot."

"He hasn't changed much then," Lethbridge-Stewart scoffed, a curious look of fondness as the older man looked back through the years. "The Doctor has never been terribly patient with soldiers like us."

Danny narrowed his eyes.

"I thought you said you were friends," he pointed out.

"We were," Lethbridge-Stewart confirmed. "I don't think it's any exaggeration to say that he was one of the greatest friends I've ever had."

"How did you meet?" Danny asked.

"The London Subway Station was under attack from Yetis."

"Yetis?" Danny repeated raising an eyebrow. "Abominable Snowmen from the Himalayas?"

"Not so much Abominable Snowmen as robotic snowmen that spun webs from their fingers," He said returning Danny's gaze.

"So," Danny urged.

"I found him and a young lady loitering on the train lines. I remember thinking he looked like an elderly member of the Beatles. But he was so much more than I thought he was. It didn't take long for him to assume leadership, what with his obviously superior intellect. And the rest is history."

"Wait, he looked like a old version of the Beatles?"

"Then he came back with a different face," Brigadier added. "I'd lost count of how many times the Doctor had come back with a different face. Personally, I think his current face seems a bit too furious. What about you? How did you meet him?"

"It's a long story." Danny sighed.

"Well, it's not like we're short on time," The Brigadier pointed out.

The tiniest smile pulled at his lip. He didn't know what it was, but something about this man inspired trust. A moment later, Danny began. He told Lethbridge-Stewart all about how the Doctor had randomly showed up as a caretaker at the school. Before he knew it there was a killer robot being sucked into a time vortex and his girlfriend turned out to be best friends with him.

After he finished his story, the former Brigadier chuckled. "I have a hard time picturing the Doctor as a Junior high school caretaker."

"Looking back, his performance was completely ridiculous," Danny agreed. "But we never really became friends. He never respected me and I didn't care that much for him."

"Are you certain of that?" Lethbridge-Stewart asked. Drawing a sigh from Danny.

"That's the second time you've asked me that," Danny pointed out, turning to face him. "Why?"

"I saw the entire confrontation between the Doctor and the Master," the Brigadier explained. "The moment he thought he was going to fail, he turned to you. He gave you control of the cybermen. He wouldn't have trusted that with just anyone."

"But, he still called me P.E.," Danny insisted, only to be startled when the the former Brigadier suddenly burst out laughing.

"You think that's bad," he chuckled. "He once called me a pompous, self-opinionated, idiot. You ask me I think being insulted is a rite of passage for us soldiers."

Despite himself, Danny found himself chuckling as well.

"Hold on," he realized. "If you died years ago, than that means you were a cyberman."

"I was," Lethbridge-Stewart confirmed.

"Then how did you-"

"Let's just say that you were not the only one to break free from cyber-control." He explained.

"How?"

The Brigadier was silent for a moment. Even the distinguished mustache on his lip refused to tremble.

"I heard my daughter calling out," he stated, the emotion unmistakable in his voice. "I was lost in the darkness of control. I fought back as hard as I could but it refused to let go. Then I heard my daughter scream. The echo of sheer terror in her voice reached into my person and gave me the strength to break free. I looked around me in the air and saw my daughter plummeting to the ground. And at that moment, nothing else mattered."

"Love is a promise," Danny repeated.

They looked at the darkening world as tiny lights flickered and died one by one. The Nethersphere was about to die. It was only a matter of hours until it no longer existed.

"Do you suppose there really is an afterlife?" Danny wondered. "Not like this. I mean, an actual afterlife."

"I suppose we will find out."

XxXxXxX

End notes: This is my first Doctor Who story. So what do you think?


End file.
